#some of it may be ai and/or cgi

[elkian]

On the note of that Everyone's Beautiful and Nobody's Horny trend, it is extremely unsettling to watch a lot of modern ads, but in specific I'm thinking about 'cleaning'-related ads. It used to be that a competent set designer could make it look like this was a real home that people feasibly lived in, even if it was sometimes neater than any real home.

Now everything looks like the pristine, soulless set that it is. It's painfully obvious that each mess is generated in a specific portion of the blindingly white floor, or wall, or sink, etc. I've seen ads where people take obviously brand-new shirts and unfold them, then feign fainting at the "smell", as found on a pristine article from a stack of pristine articles in a pristine box. It's not even a terrarium, it's a box. I'm sure CGI is involved a lot, but even the stuff that seems to take place on a real set is just... hollow. It's creepy.

Not even all that long ago ads would have kids tipping giant bowls of spaghetti over half a couch or a dog shaking muddy water in the middle of a living room. Now everything looks generated, even when it exists in a physical form. It's eerie.

[antianakin]

Do you think Ahsoka may have been a bad influence on Luke? This was a thought came to my mine a while ago.

When they first met, Luke was trying to rebuild the Jedi Order, while Ahsoka still harbored resentment toward the Order. Could she have been the reason for Luke's coldness toward Grogu and his disillusionment with the Jedi Order during the sequels? She might have given him a warped retelling of what the Jedi Order was like. Perhaps she told him that Jedi are not supposed to show concern for younglings or Padawans. She may have also emphasized her belief that the Jedi were at fault for Anakin's fall and becoming Vader.

There are definitely more factors that led to Luke disillusionment but she had a roll in that and we didn't even notice.

To begin with, I don't think Luke was cold to Grogu at all. I think he was FIRM, perhaps, and HONEST about the choices available to him and the consequences of each choice, but that doesn't make him cold. It was a serious conversation and a serious choice that would define years of Grogu's life, so I think Luke treated it with the gravitas it needed. Luke's conversation with Grogu was, to me, not truly any colder than the Council's conversation with Anakin in TPM. He's speaking from much the same place. He's seeing that Grogu isn't committed to being a Jedi right now, that he reacts to seeing Din's ship, and so he makes the choices that Grogu has very clear. And those choices have ALWAYS BEEN THERE, it's not like Luke is forcing this choice on Grogu out of nowhere, or creating a situation where Grogu HAS to choose, because Grogu is making that choice every single day that he is with Luke, he made it on Gideon's cruiser when he first left and has made every day since. Luke brings it up again because he thinks Grogu might need some clarity and guidance about the paths available to him and what they will ask of him.

(The caveat I will give here is that the whole choice to have Grogu be upset with the Jedi way of life and leave it behind to be a Mando was done exclusively because they wanted to keep the show going and couldn't do it without him, rather than because they felt like it was the right choice for his character, so it feels rushed and shoehorned in for no real reason because, well, it WAS. The other thing that might be making it feel "cold" to you is the whole deepfake AI aspect of Luke in these scenes. The deepfaked face and AI voice weren't capable of giving the warmth that a real actor would've been more able to get across. You can see a few behind the scenes featurettes where Mark Hamill was doing some of the lines in costume and there's so much more emotion in his delivery than in the final product. So while it may not have been intended to come across as cold, I would be willing to accept that it still DID come across as cold because of the lack of emotion in the CGI performance.)

So, with that being said, I'll try to answer your actual question.

The short is: no. For one, I barely consider the Sequel trilogy and the Mandoverse part of my personal canon at this point, I don't see a lot of redeeming qualities in either of them, I don't think the characterization in them for the pre-established characters makes any sense and often directly contradicts what we know of them already, so I just ignore it. So, two, is that because of that opinion on the Sequels, I personally believe Sequels Luke is just... not Luke at all. This isn't how Luke would have ever reacted to ANYTHING, none of his actions and choices make any sense, and I don't personally believe that there is any headcanon that would ever make me believe that it makes sense.

The longer answer is that I just don't think that makes sense for Ahsoka, either, even though the Mandoverse version of her is particularly Jedi critical. HOWEVER, she is MOSTLY critical of the Jedi in the specific context of "training Sabine." She's not really ever critical of the Jedi when we see her with Grogu during The Mandalorian and is actually relatively warm towards him initially as a fellow Order 66/Purge survivor. And nothing she says to either Din or Luke in her appearance in TBOBF was critical of the Jedi, either. And if we move away from the Mandoverse, then none of her other depictions of her post Wrong Jedi show her being critical of the Jedi Order to OTHER PEOPLE. She's rude to OBI-WAN, she's a little short with Mace, but I don't recall her saying anything critical of the Jedi when speaking with Trace and Rafa or Bo-Katan, even when Trace and Rafa were talking about their bad experiences with the Jedi and their more negative opinions, I think Ahsoka actually DEFENDED them a little. And in Rebels, she's really warm towards Kanan and Ezra, has no issue being considered a Jedi along with them, and acknowledges that the Jedi had considered protecting Force Sensitive children to be their responsibility and happily agrees to take up that responsibility along with Kanan.

So you can make a really strong argument that Ahsoka's behavior in the Ahsoka show, her critical commentary about the Jedi, isn't super in character even for her. You can also make a fairly strong argument that this behavior only comes out in certain contexts, so even if it IS "in character," it wouldn't necessarily be something she'd say to LUKE.

If Luke asked her things like "What was it like, growing up as a Jedi?" or "Can you tell me what the other Jedi were like?" or anything along those lines, I think she'd actually give a pretty positive answer. I don't think she'd really feel the need for criticism here, nor would she even WANT to bring it up. I don't think that Luke himself or the questions he might ask of her would make those more negative feelings come forward. Of course, it's always possible if he manages to figure out that she left the Jedi that he could ask about that and that this could cause her to start having more negative feelings that impacted her answers to questions, but I think that IN GENERAL, she'd have nice things to say still. The Jedi were her family, they were GOOD PEOPLE, she loved growing up as a Jedi, she had so many friends that she loved, so many people she still mourns. I personally believe that the Ahsoka we saw in Rebels and even the Ahsoka we saw in The Mandalorian would choose to only remember the positive things when speaking to someone else about them. Her pain is hers and it doesn't even truly MATTER anymore.

But when training Sabine, she's faced with the question of what to KEEP from her own training and what she wants to discard. Her pain matters more now because it will impact what she chooses to pass on to a student who claims to want to be a Jedi. And of course there's always The Anakin Of It All bringing in even more complicated messy feelings, too. So I'd kind-of be willing to buy that, even if she usually only ever has kind things to say when speaking to other people, that the situation with Sabine would bring out her most critical opinions.

(Of course, I genuinely hate the Ahsoka show with the power of a thousand burning suns, I think that Jedi Sabine is one of the stupidest choices I have ever seen in a Star Wars show which is saying a LOT, and so I don't want ANY OF IT anywhere near my own canon, regardless of whether I can make it make sense with Ahsoka's characterization or not. I just don't like it, and I think every single character involved deserved far better than the absolute dumpster fire that was that show.)

Which still brings us back to the answer of: No. Luke's fucked up behavior in the Sequel trilogy cannot be blamed on Ahsoka, not even in a headcanon for me. This is one of those places where I refuse to try to headcanon away the issues and place the blame squarely on bad writing. This is too big of an issue to headcanon away and there's not enough redeeming quality in the stuff around it to try. It's a lot easier and more satisfying to me to just acknowledge that Luke is OOC as all get out in the Sequels and leave it at that. Both Luke AND Ahsoka deserve better than this headcanon.

[deepdreamnights]

A friendly wizard and style reference.

Midjourney has just released both the version 6 of its niji anime engine and the first version of its "style reference" tool.

Functionally this is a variation of the image prompting system (explained here), in which breaks a submitted image down into the 'token language' the AI uses internally and uses that as a supplement to a text prompt. "Style Reference" (or 'sref') lets you do this with up to three images, only with only the tokens associated with 'style' being drawn upon.

This is not to be confused with style transfer, a much older and very different AI art process.

But what is a style in this context? And how does it affect generation?

Prompt: a blue axolotl-anthro wizard in a red-and-yellow swirl-pattern robe, holding a sheleighleigh made of purple wood and a potion full of glowing green energy drink. A blue-and-green ladybug familiar stands near his feet, white background, fullbody image

Settings: --niji 6, --style raw --s 50 --seed 1762468963

Here, I've tested the same seed and prompt with a number of reference images.

My semiorganized ramblings under the fold

The first thing I note is that style reference affects the gen so much that same-seed/different style ref comparisons are kind of pointless. Way too much of pose, composition and content changes for it to matter, so for future style ref tests, I'm probably going to drop the seeds.

The second thing I note is that there are certain limitations. You need to change up your prompt for things like photography, and the system interprets styles using its own criteria, not ours. If image prompting misinterprets something, so will style ref, but perhaps not in the same way.

This is notable for the one prompted with a scan from the Nuremberg Chronicle (first row). It recognizes that its a woodcut and emulates that general vibe nicely, but MJ is highly tuned for aesthetics, and emulating real world jank and clumsiness is a weak area. This is literally the first printed (european at least) book with illustrations. Every example thereafter is building on that skillset, so the dataset for woodcuts is going to be largely of a higher apparent quality.

In short, with Midjourney, additional prompt work is needed to replicate the look of early jank or intentionally 'ugly' art styles, and even as recent as v6 I've had no luck with things like midcentury Hanna-Barbereesque cheap TV animation styles or shitty 1990s CGI.

Style reference can help, I've gotten some pretty good cheap 80s-90s TV animation looking stuff from v6 niji and style ref in my early tests:

Color observations: Absent specific requests in the prompt, SREF will stick pretty close to the palette and lighting conditions of the referenced image. With such instructions, you get blending, so the one referencing the okapi fakemon (second row from bottom), for instance, has a lot of colors the reference image doesn't have, but they're in similar in vibrancy and saturation.

One limitation, however, is it doesn't apply to the aspects of the gen that come from any image prompts, so it will always blend the style of the style reference with the style aspects inherited from the image prompt, and that is very strong compared to the style ref.

Using the dog as the image prompt, and the TFTM reformatting as the style prompt, and the text prompt: "a cute older yorkie dog sitting on a bedspread", we get the image on the left. Dropping the image prompt weight to .25 gets us the center option, and removing the image prompt entirely produces the one on the right.

I expect this will be patched eventually, or general image prompting may fall out of favor compared to a combination of style ref and the upcoming character reference option, which will be the same thing, but will only reference the tokens associated with the character in the reference image. Depending on how that works that will have a lot of uses.

Stay tuned for more experiments. There's some good potential for freaky, unexplored aesthetics with combinations of multiple style refs and text prompts.

[sirfrogsworth]

Again, I think people are missing the nuance here.

They are using his voice and his performance and changing it to another language. The spirit of his performance remains intact. I agree, some actors may not see it that way and a system of consent is needed. But she is blowing this particular example way out of proportion.

I see this as an accessibility feature. When I watch a foreign film, my brain fog makes it very hard to parse subtitles. I often have to settle for an unenthusiastic dub that does not match the performance or tone or voice of the original actor. And that always bums me out. Sometimes I will find myself watching a scene in the original language and then rewatching it with the dub. But I just can't do that for an entire movie.

I think using AI to deepfake someone's voice and make them say something they never agreed to is a misuse of this technology. But taking their voice and their performance and converting it into another language seems more valid to me.

I just wish someone other than Justine was the advocate here. She does not understand the technology she is fighting against and she sees any implementation of it as bad. If you remember my previous post, she thought VFX was the same as A.I. and wanted to give a "stamp of approval" to movies that did not use CGI. Thus trying to throw talented artists under the bus even though their work has nothing to do with generative A.I.

If you actually watch the video she is enraged by, it was a tech demo. They did not take an entire Cary Grant movie, convert it to Spanish, and then release it commercially.

It was a 10 second clip to show the possibilities of this tech. I don't know if they got permission from Grant's family. And perhaps it would have been better to use a different performance with permission. But I don't think we need to yell at this delightful nerd from Adobe for making a small mistake in a tech demo.

I would hope for a major studio movie, they would get releases and agreements from all of the performers to do this. But this response is a little melodramatic.

This could be a game changer for small content creators too. A small YouTuber could increase their reach worldwide by releasing their videos in many languages. Foreign audiobooks would be more accessible. People with visual impairments who cannot read subtitles at all can enjoy foreign content.

I keep saying this, but A.I. is a tool. It is not inherently good or bad. We just have to be careful how we use it. And I agree we need to get consent from performers whenever this tech is used. But it is a real shame that Justine couldn't see the possibilities of this particular tool.

[cat-esper]

WIP Questionnaire

I was tagged to do this by @teacupsandstarlight

In return, I shall be gently tagging @awleeofficial, @illarian-rambling, and @ahordeofwasps + open tag!

Questions:

What was the first part of your wip that you created?

The Enochians. The initial inspiration for Records was actually Peter Mohrbacher's artwork which I saw at a con. I imagined a world where these vast and horrific angels just appeared in the sky over a world that was basically their sandbox. All I had to figure out was who lived in the world and what they would do about it.

If your story was a TV show, what would the theme song/intro be?

I picture Records having a whole intro title and credits sequence with very 80s CGI fantasy landscapes to this song here:

The fictional band Red Tape Rocket plays an important role in this series and I based their sound on my very favorite irl band, the Moody Blues, so there's a fun fact for you.

Who are your favourite characters you've made? Why?

Definitely Sydney and Dell. Sydney's a girl who struggles to see herself in a positive light after being told again and again that she's worthless by members of her own family while being quietly brushed aside by the people who are supposed to care. So when she ends up on the Spiral, it's very much a journey of self-discovery and learning to be confident in herself and boy, do I want to give her a hug.

Dell started out as an email attachment that, due to some strange reality-warping shenanigans, gains sentience on Reyna's computer. She's super excited to speak with him and teach him things because her life is sad and she has no friends and he ends up leading her on a quest to the Spiral. I already know he's going to be fun to write because AI/robots always end up my favorites anyway XD

What other pieces of media do you think would share a fan base for your story?

I've always thought this would make a cool Jim Henson movie so probably fans of weird, dark surreal fantasy like Labyrinth or The Dark Crystal would like it.

What has been your biggest struggle with your wip?

Probably getting everything to fit together in a way that makes sense but also allowing myself to leave certain elements a mystery. Usually when I plan my magic systems, I like to make hard rules for them but the Spiral is home to an eldritch skeleton thing that literally warps reality so anything can happen.

Are there any animals in your story? Talk about them!

Depends what constitutes animals, I guess. I have a lot of strange creatures that inhabit the Spiral but all of them are sentient (yes, even the sandstone), so I guess they'd be more like fantasy races than animals. But they include the Varixxi, moth-like winged humanoids, the Aroon, clay pot tortoise-looking guys, and the Keem-Torali, which look like tentacled Horta that secrete acid and chill in extremely salty water.

How do your characters get around? (ex: trains, horses, cars, dragons, etc.)

Walking mostly or, if they're lucky, my characters may catch a ride on a Colossus, but they're very hard to climb on to and you have to be careful not to get stepped on. Incidentally, there's also the molted exoskeleton of an eldritch abomination that sometimes becomes a portal when someone dies next to it, but that's not very practical.

What part of your wip are you working on rn?

I've actually been taking a little break from this so I can focus on Incantations but I really want to have my draft of book 1 finished by the end of the year.

What aspects (tropes, maybe?) of your wip do you think will draw people in?

This is pure, old school portal fantasy escapism. The main characters are all unhappy in their normal lives, wish for something more, and they get it. They're not your traditional heroes, but they get to save the world anyway.

What are your hopes for your wip?

If this story and these characters resonate with at least one person and can help them get through the day, I'll be content.

Records of the Spiral taglist: @awleeofficial , @desastreus

General taglist: @thatrandomlemononyourcounter1, @teacupsandstarlight

Blank questionnaire below the cut:

What was the first part of your wip that you created?

If your story was a TV show, what would the theme song/intro be?

Who are your favourite characters you've made? Why?

What other pieces of media do you think would share a fan base for your story?

What has been your biggest struggle with your wip?

Are there any animals in your story? Talk about them!

How do your characters get around? (ex: trains, horses, cars, dragons, etc.)

What part of your wip are you working on rn?

What aspects (tropes, maybe?) of your wip do you think will draw people in?

What are your hopes for your wip?

[tangibletechnomancy]

The problem with AI and the entertainment industry in particular is that...okay, fine, technology marches on. Digital art made physical ink-on-cels animation into mostly a hobbyist novelty (though boy howdy did it ever make it an impressive one). Photography turned portrait painting into a luxury, rather than something everyone who could afford it saved to do at least once for every family member because it was the only way to keep their likenesses alive. Photo editing has gone through so many changes that it's almost unrecognizable compared to what it looked like as recently as the 80s and 90s, and the older methods are, again, super impressive hobbyist passion projects now. Digital painting made physical painting less viable in an economy of scale, but way more impressive as an art form. These kinds of changes always really fucking suck for some people, but you can't really prevent them without stifling human development in general.

But.

The entertainment industry wants to make it suck way more than it has to for everyone but their executives and shareholders. They want to have their cake and eat it too. They want to take advantage of the inherent marketing power of celebrity culture without ACTUALLY involving, let alone paying, the people whose names and likenesses they're using. That, I hope we can all agree, is vile.

Now, the logical endpoint of this is that we push back against that, and as an alternative we get more fictional celebrities in the near-ish future, and as a Vocaloid fan, theoretically, I dont see much of a problem with that. Theoretically, at least. In the best case scenario, I think it could be a lot of fun! But the problem is, well...

See, in the early days, Vocaloid producers tended to take a very backstage role. Very few people were fans of specific producers; they were fans of Miku or any other character. Eventually, though, producers just kind of came more into the spotlight on their own because everyone has their own style and taste. We still love the characters, but we all started to notice when half our favorite songs by Miku were produced by the same person, well, perhaps we were fans of that producer as well!

But in American-born entertainment culture...

You may notice that CGI was conspicuously absent from my Technology Marches On breakdown. That's because while, yes, it has made for an interesting highlight of practical effects, with love for the work and nostalgia for their jank the same way other new art media has shone a spotlight on its predecessors, it hasn't actually gotten to be recognized as an art form the way the others listed have. We've barely moved on from the attitude that got Tron disqualified from the Academy Awards for SFX because "the computer did those effects, not you" (in 1982). In fact, I'm strongly of the belief that if Disney were a halfway decent company, they would be bragging about how they're pioneering photorealistic animation, rather than trying to pass off 90+% CGI animated films, usually (but not always; see: The Lion King remake) with live celebrity actors' faces composited in, as "live-action". Instead, they treat the VFX department as mindless dancing monkeys, and perpetuate the idea that VFX is just "select material, press button, get polished scene" - because to brag about it as its own art form might imply that the people doing it are skilled artists who deserve to be paid fairly and treated like human beings, and oh, we can't have THAT, now can we?

VFX labor is all hidden; very few people have a favorite VFX artist or director, instead we treat the artists, who put the time and effort into wrangling code and semiconductors and routines and layers into creating a professional-looking end product, as just part of the machine themselves, to save the companies some money - and culturally, I fear we're well on the way to regarding AI exactly the same way but worse.

As such, I fear that we wouldn't have the same effect with any digital idols produced by Silicon Valley.

Now, I don't fear virtual celebrities being able to fully replace human ones. Half of the draw of celebrity culture is the illusion of human connection. As much as the word "parasociality" has grown to be associated with only the negative effects of this, in reality, it's also the driving mechanism behind why representation matters. It's fun to be able to feel a connection to a fictional celebrity, but it doesn't replace the feeling of knowing that your fave is a human being with a real life - ...whether you use that knowledge for better or worse.

What I do fear is the fight against using AI to replicate real humans without their input, or with their manufactured consent, being long and drawn-out and doing a lot of harm before we can fully put a lock on it, and virtual celebrities being used to hide the work that the human directors and producers put into them for the sake of saving a parent company a buck.

[honoringthehorrific]

I watched Alien: Romulus and here's what I thought!

As always friends Spoilers under the cut!...👽

Gosh first can I apologize for not being as active recently? I've seen this movie 3 times and am just now getting to writing my review! Might as well torch me now! haha. Seriously though I'd like to stay active on this blog it's just hard to find stuff to talk about sometimes when I come away from these movies. I'd like to start this off by saying this is going to be a pretty glowing review. If you haven't seen Romulus, or any of the alien movies...What the hell are you doing here??? Get out! Go see it! If for some reason you cant get out and go see it please spare yourself spoilers until you can find it on streaming! This franchise from what i've seen so far is one of my favorites. If you love sci-fi, body horror, bad ass female leads, or slimy slithering creatures in general you should really give this one a chance.

I feel like a lot of people wanna talk about this so lets get it out of the way. Rook. The artificial person we meet when things start heating up. Obviously he is a CGI rendition of Ash's actor from the first movie Ian Holm. You may be screaming at me right now about ethics. How this took a job from an actor. How technology is bad because it's going to take work from actors. I hear you. I was on the fence about this too. In truth AI replacing human workers is a topic near and dear to my heart because it's something that worries me as an artist myself. However, Reading about how Alvarez got permission from Holm's widow. How Holm felt almost blacklisted from hollywood after so many years in the sci-fi and fantasy genres. It made my opinion of this soften. If that makes you disregard my review or even me as a person I understand. I'm happy I was able to give you my thoughts and that you gave me your time. Now, The CGI of Holm's face is....not the best? His eyes and mouth move strangely if you pay too close of attention however it was something I could easily ignore as the movie progressed. Overall however with the other effects I think this movie did very well! I loved the way the facehuggers looked and moved and we even got to see up close the egg laying...tube...thing? Forgive me I'm not well versed in facehugger anatomy. The chest burster actually having to work to burrow it's way out and the xenomorph's acid just all of it felt really great! I only very recently watched the second alien movie and I intend to watch the rest of the alien sequels in the near future so don't be upset with me! However it seems like if you've only seen the first two this one will make plenty sense. I've seen people complain about the pacing being really slow and the only thing I really have to say to that is...The first two movies, at least to me, felt equally as "slow." However I wouldn't necessarily say this is a slow movie! It kept me interested each step of the way. Usually I hate watching something that feels like it's dragging it's feet so I feel like if the movie were truly a drag someone with my attention span would have noticed. On the subject of noticing things this movie has a TON of fan service and nostalgia. There's quotes from the previous films, Visual references, and even a nod to the video game Isolation! Some people really lay on a lot of flack for that kind of thing but it's been 7 years since the last alien movie so it's kind of something I expected if that makes sense? Also If it's something I love, I'm usually a sucker for fan service! Yeah some of the quotes felt kinda off in the dialogue (Personally when Andy says he prefers the term artificial person, That felt like an off moment to me? I could be nit picking but it just felt like it didn't flow with the previous dialogue.) But over all I liked easter egg hunting on my second and third watch. In terms of characters there were some misses like Navarro where I really wanted to learn more about her but we don't really get the chance. We see and learn a lot about Andy and Raine's relationship as siblings but its hard to tell what the other's relationships are to each other until they outright say or are on their deathbeds.

Overall I liked the effects, the action, the pacing and the characters. It did fall flat in some spaces but honestly I think it's one of my favorite movies of the year next to Immaculate. 4.5/5 Facehuggers!

[selkies-world]

°•♡ I'm going to start a Livestream Series where I teach people how to spot AI art ♡•°

Starting on the 29th of April, I'm going to start a series over on my TwitchTV account where I take an AI image, talk the audience through how to spot that it's AI, and then recreate it correctly with an actual artist program to show that actually, you can create a better image if you take just a little bit of time to learn how to art. I'll probably also be talking about what AI art is, how it works, the impact it has on artists, and we're gonna get into some art politics around AI art versus CGI versus rigging versus photoshop / editing software versus traditional art. It's gonna be a mess, but it's gonna be good.

If this sounds like your kind of thing, check out my TwitchTV channel, hit the follow button & turn the notifications on, & come hang out in the stream!!!

It'll also be uploaded to my YouTube, so you can go back and take notes at any point afterwards :)

April 29th, May 1st & May 2nd are gonna be covering AI character design.

[I'm still figuring out how frequent this series is gonna be, but I'm thinking it'll be the last week of the month into the first week of the next.]

°• CLICK THE LINK TO FOLLOW •°

[leelmaxinfotech]

The Rise of AI Influencers: Can Virtual HumansReplace Real Content Creators?

The digital landscape is witnessing a radical transformation with the emergence of AI-generated influencers. Virtual humans, powered by artificial intelligence, are becoming a disruptive force in the marketing world, challenging the role of traditional content creators. But can these AI influencers truly replace real humans in the content creation space? Let’s dive deep into this trend and analyze its future impact.

What Are AI Influencers?

AI influencers are digital personalities created using advanced artificial intelligence, machine learning, and CGI (computer-generated imagery). These virtual beings are designed to look and act like real people, with fully customizable appearances, personalities, and behaviors. Some well-known AI influencers include:

Lil Miquela – A virtual model and musician with millions of followers on Instagram.

Shudu Gram – Dubbed the world’s first digital supermodel.

Imma – A Japanese AI influencer known for her futuristic style.

These AI-driven personas collaborate with brands, engage audiences, and even “interact” with followers in a human-like manner.

Why Are AI Influencers Gaining Popularity?

1. Cost-Effectiveness for Brands

Traditional influencers require payment, travel expenses, and contracts, whereas AI influencers offer an affordable and controlled alternative. Brands can create their own virtual brand ambassadors, reducing dependence on human influencers.

2. Full Creative Control

Companies can design AI influencers to align perfectly with their brand identity, ensuring consistency in messaging and aesthetics.

3. No Scandals or Controversies

Unlike human influencers, AI influencers don’t engage in scandals, personal drama, or unpredictable behavior, making them a safer choice for brands.

4. Round-the-Clock Engagement

AI influencers don’t need sleep, breaks, or vacations. They can engage with audiences 24/7, responding to comments and creating content in real time.

Can AI Replace Human Content Creators?

While AI influencers offer advantages, there are significant challenges and limitations:

1. Lack of Authenticity

Human influencers build trust through real-life experiences, emotions, and relatability—qualities AI influencers lack. Many consumers prefer genuine, human-driven content.

2. Limited Creativity and Emotion

AI-generated content, while visually appealing, lacks true creativity and emotional intelligence. Human content creators bring unique perspectives, storytelling, and spontaneity that AI cannot replicate.

3. Ethical Concerns

The rise of AI influencers raises ethical questions about transparency. Should followers be explicitly informed when they interact with an AI persona? Additionally, AI influencers could displace human jobs in the creative industry.

The Future: A Hybrid Model

Rather than fully replacing human influencers, AI influencers will likely coexist with real content creators. Brands may use AI influencers for highly controlled, automated campaigns while leveraging human influencers for authenticity and deeper engagement.

In the ever-evolving digital landscape, the blend of AI and human creativity will shape the future of content marketing. The key lies in finding the right balance between innovation and authenticity, ensuring that brands can leverage technology while maintaining genuine connections with audiences.

Both AI and solar innovations are set to define the future. As these trends continue to develop, staying ahead of the curve is crucial for businesses looking to thrive in the modern era.

[coyote985]

Resources!

Here is a list of the resources I use to make my graphics as somebody who doesn’t have Photoshop or Illustrator! All my graphics are made by me, except for my manga icon base which were made by solaariicons. My Carrd was made by poohresources who has free templates but some may require a pro account.

Photopea - is what I use for adding gradients and spot correcting unwanted marks in manga icons, but it has a lot more tools than that! It’s very similar to Photoshop and can open various file formats including PSDs! So if you’re looking to make your own edits to templates you find on tumblr, I highly recommend this!

Pixlr - which has sadly gone paid and has begun to use AI. As somebody who used this religiously for icons for the past several years, I was bummed out. But quickly realized that it still functioned in Wayback Machine! Everything but “Add element” still works but might take a little to load in. You can still upload your own elements to place in though. This is what I use for lighting correction, color correction, toning, and adding my borders around my icons.

Photoscape X Free - is not my favorite. It has it’s uses of course but it’s pretty limited and the Pro version isn’t worth it in my opinion. Free comes with some basic tools, basic borders, and some pretty tints, overlays, and textures as well as some stylization options.

Canva - mostly free and what I use for my borders, banners, promos, dividers, etc.. I’m able to use the Pro version since my sister is kind enough to share it with me! It consists primarily of simple tools and premade graphics, but of course you can also upload your own! You can save graphics in the form of JPGs, PNGs, GIFs, MP4s, and PDFs. If there’s a graphic you’d like to use but it’s locked behind the Pro account, let me know! I can try see about saving it myself and sending it.

CGI icons - are made with The Sims 4 and Blender 2.93 both of which are free! It was a little bit of a process to learn since it required moving a lot of things around, as well as figuring out the virtual photography aspect, but I’ve eventually managed some good results over time! I use custom content from various creators to make my Sim look and pose the way I want to.

The process of creating a Sim to look like your character is a little broad, but there’s a vast community of Sims 4 modders. I’ll at least share my favorite rendering tutorials here. This is the one I used to learn lighting, this one covers the basic process of exporting and rendering, and this one is the one I used to get rid of seams on models. For framing and lighting, I recommend looking for photography inspiration on Pinterest! If this is something you’re interested in doing, hit me up! I’m more than happy to help others!!

Unsplash - Is my primary resource for stock images! Most photography there has a nice modern look and covers a wide array of subjects. It is mostly free, and all images are free to use for commercial and noncommercial use.

Check out my Ray's Leftovers tag for graphics or edits I ended up not using or made for fun! Feel free to modify them to your liking as well and there's no need for credit, though it is appreciated.

My Ray Made tag is where you can find roleplay graphics that I have made, for myself and others!

[worldburnrp]

MAY 6th, 2024.

WELCOME TO THE MET GALA

Fashion’s most important night happens now. The theme is, “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.” The exhibit will feature approximately 250 rare items drawn from the Costume Institute’s permanent collection. Spanning over 400 years of fashion history, the pieces will include designs by Schiaparelli, Dior, Givenchy, and more. Some garments that are too fragile to ever be worn again—such as a Charles Frederick Worth ball gown from 1877—will also be displayed via video animation, light projection, AI, CGI, and other forms of sensory stimulation. The official dress code is “The Garden of Time.” Its hosts include Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Bad Bunny, and Chris Hemsworth as the night's co-chairs and Vogue’s Anna Wintour will continue as honorary co-chair. An evening of culture and celebration awaits ahead — so put your best shoes on, and enjoy the night.

OOC INFORMATION

This is a mini event.

What is a mini event? We want to give members the opportunity to participate in something in case they want to do write for the occasion, but without the stricter set-up of a usual event.

Members aren’t required to pause non-event threads during this period, and it is not mandatory to participate. If you want to ‘ignore’ the MET Gala and simply continue with your regular threads as usual, there is no problem in doing so.

Because this is a mini event, it will be a single-part event, meaning admins will not be providing additional parts or plot drops — so members are encouraged to plot within themselves what their characters will be up to during the evening.

IC, the event takes place on the night of May 6th, and into the early hours of May 7th.

As always, should there be any questions or need of assistance with any plots, please feel free to contact the admins and we’ll be happy to help you. You can find further information for particular character groups down below.

DRESS CODE

What is the dress code? This year’s 2024 Met Gala dress code is “The Garden of Time.” Inspired by J.G. Ballard's short story of the same title, written in 1962, it can be interpreted in a myriad of ways.

INFORMATION

Celebrity characters and high-profile characters would have received an invitation to attend The MET Gala. They are welcome to the party inside, as well as to walk the red carpet.

Non-high profile characters would only attend the party inside. These characters would be there as someone's plus one, or be working at the event. Alternatively, they could have bought a ticket. In 2024, a ticket to the MET Gala is priced at $75,000.

If you want your character to attend, but you don’t think they would be invited or have the means to pay entry, you're welcome to message the main for an admin to help you come up with scenarios to make it work. <3

OUTFIT CHALLENGE

We challenge our members to post the outfits their characters will be wearing and any other information you'd like to share about their attendance.

ENJOY! <3

[doubleddenden]

Just for fun, I'm going to make an absolute WORST CASE scenario for Pokemon day (with sillies)

Pokemon decides to announce NFTs (they did put out a job listing for an NFT expert months ago)

Pokemon merch that's just more overpriced garbage. Shitty pastel tshirts that just have the pokemon logo stamped on the left breast area- $50, only goes to size XL.

Pokemon Go has way too much screen time for yet another Kanto fest

Pokemon Masters, Unite, and Cafe just won't end their trailers.

New tv show that's just a vague reality show about celebrities that liked Pokémon once, and it's more of an episodic celebrity biography show with one line or two about Pokémon. Not even fun ones, C tier at best. So, something like T@yl*r Sw*ft's boyfriend's football career, but one line about playing Blue for a few hours at his cousin's house.

Pokemon Home fees will increase

Pokemon Bank will close TODAY

Port of Red, Blue, Gold, Silver, Ruby, and Sapphire to NSO- you have to pay for online to access it over cloud- internet connection required, and for some reason you have to pay extra for them in a Pokémon exclusive expansion pass. No word of third versions. Does not include the events or Japan exclusives.

Black and White 1 remakes announced. It's chibi like BDSP, colors are dry and washed out, there's graphical errors in the trailer frames, they state BW2 specifically is not part of the remake, they promise tweaks to make the gameplay EASIER than ever. Parts of the game are made with AI and script rewritten by Chat GPT, with an error you spot easily in a trailer. Masuda has the remake game director's neck clenched tightly from the back. He looks at you and says "you will buy the games this time. This isn't a request." Japan pre-order exclusives are amazingly crafted Reshiram and Zekrom statues that even have light up tails and eyes, and also you get shiny versions of them only in the Japanese copies, US gets a cheap piece of paper with generic stock images of Pikachu and Charizard on it, everything is shiny locked for everywhere not Japan.

They tease a Legends game. You think it's going to be amazing, you think oh my god we're getting Legends Unova... wait, it looks Japanese, maybe LEGENDS CELEBI???...it's Legends......... KANTO, and it's the most gorgeous thing you've ever seen after the clear lack of care put into their non gen 1 games since the Switch launched. A selling point is, once again, no new Pokémon after the og 151 so older fans can enjoy it better. Your starters are Charmander, Charmander, and Charmander, you might encounter Bulbasaur and Squirtle in post game. Your job is to stop EEEVIL outsiders from the rest of the regions with their newer Pokémon from settling into Kanto. Johto is having an awesome party next door with all the regions invited, but there's been a convenient landslide blocking the only way over. It's just reskinned Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee. Professor Oak is your age and putting moves on your mom.

Features a mythical Pokémon based on depression that looks like a tiny salary man, comes with its own movie featuring Ash as a depressed Millenial realizing he peaked at 10. He has to get a job. Pikachu is dying of old age and Ash has to "grow up" and release him and all of his other still living Pokémon. It cuts to real life, and Pokémon was just a game he has been playing for years to cope with his parents' divorce and eventually his own with Misty, then May, then Dawn, then Serena, then Goh, etc. Ash's dad is finally revealed: it's Chris Pratt with bad cgi wrinkles, back with milk. They go to the arcade to play Mario to stomp on some................................................................................................................................................................................... KOOPAS.

"Well that's all. Oh wait, one more thing!"

Ed Sheeran and T@yl*r Sw*ft music video featuring 1 Pikachu in a frame that can be easily edited out, with a song not even about Pokémon. The song sounds like shit and is about another breakup.

There, the bar has been lowered to the floor. It cannot get worse.

[themaresnest-dumblr]

House Of The Dragging On

Anyone else out there feeling that they are watching it more out of a sense of duty, having even passed the 'hope beyond expectation' stage?

As the other half messaged, 'I watch three current shows - "House Of The Dragon", "Malory Towers" and "Reginald The Vampire." "Reginald The Vampire" has better acting and "Malory Towers" more believable, less cliched villains than 'House Of The Dragon'.

Now 'Vikings: Valhalla' is back, I've even less reason to care about a show whose target audience appears to be those dried semen and pot smelling trainwrecks found 24/7 in your local Geek Retreat.'

(For the benefit of our non-British viewers, Geek Retreat is a franchise of cafes which offers the opportunity for people to play boardgames, card games, RPGs, etc. which expanded fast and contracted even faster, largely because each franchise discovered it couldn't compete against the existing 'geek/nerd' cafes and bars that had been offering the same for years, except miles cheaper because they weren't based on the main streets of cities and towns where the rates are eye-watering. Oh, and weren't having to pay a big 'franchise fee' either)

Ouch!

Know how they feel. How can a show on such a budget prove to be such a crushing disappointment?

How can a show be made on such a scale where you seriously couldn't care less about any of the characters post the departure of Milly Alcock (the fact they keep having to get her in cameo flashbacks says it all).

Every single one of them is a dreadful cliche, the worst of them being - no prizes for guessing ...

Prince Aemond Targaryen, the One Eyed Chin, who may as well grow a silly moustache to twirl every time he does some utterly predictable piece of villainy.

What? He has designs on the throne for himself? Wow.

He kills his own brother in a battle whilst making it look like an accident? We never say that one coming.

Old Chinnochio's major character motivation is the chips on his shoulder from a disability and being a creepy pervert meaning he wants power so no one will dare make fun of him again? That really sets him apart from all the other characters ...

*** cough! ***

'House Of The Dragon' has a budget inversely proportionate to the originality entertainment it has to give.

It is just one series of tired old tropes after another done far better before by more talented actors and producers who had to try harder rather than shrug their shoulders and smirk 'oh well, the CGI will get us out of trouble - and if they don't, we can always throw in some tits and bum to spike the ratings' It's like Tinseltown's been taken over by those same butt lazy students who relied on AI bots and essay mills to get their grades.

George R R Martin, like J K Rowling, has proven someone who is good at cutting, pasting and contemporizing better writer's work, but is left floundering around like a beached cod the moment those sources dry up.

Unless some miracle occurs, this series is long past the stage of being put out of its misery.

[kaboomviper]

good afternoon. I'm preparing for my mother to join me later today in beautiful sunny Los Angeles. I've got a few hours of work to clock before knocking down two brews and a glizzy. In the interim, I thought you all might appreciate:

A Casual Assessment of 2024 in Film so far

AI ✨ is killing Hollywood- So far this year, there's been very little work for real Hollywood talent, and much of the work is going overseas. As the AI revolution progresses, this will probably get worse (most of what they call AI is overseas labor and not really a tiny brain in a USB port). However, there's probably still plenty of work to be had at smaller studios, the Artist may simply see less work at the major outlets: Netflix, Disney, etc. At least for a few years.

Capitalism is a Joke- Sony Pictures bought Alamo Drafthouse as a pet project to put Demon Slayer at exclusive theatrical events (I predict). The dudes at Skydance Media, one of whom is the son of the guy who runs Oracle, are buying Paramount Global for an absurd amount of money.

However! The good news is, there have been some seriously terrific movies that have dropped this year. If you want to feel like your brain is going through a blender, the experimental film market has 'Kinds of Kindness' from Focus, 'The Beast,' a Lea Seydoux project out of France, 'The People's Joker,' a partially animated autobiographical-parody film from Vera Drew, and 'AGGRO DR1FT', the newest and most experimental to date from Harmony Korine.

In my top 5:

5. Robot Dreams

A largely silent film about an anthropomorphic dog and his robot companion who are separated, but dream about returning back together. I'm dead serious that just writing the synopsis of this movie gives me full body chills- not in the simple story, it's unremarkable in literally only that aspect. The film is detailed, it's carefree but deliberate, emotionally grounded but still fun. Think 'Bojack Horseman' meets a Peanuts cartoon. If one or both of those things revs your engines like it does mine, this is for you.

4. Dune 2 Guys @ The Same Time (Streaming on Max)

Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Wormn! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm!Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm! Worm!

3. Challengers (or Dune 2 Guys @ Separate Times)

What can I say? I love Zendaya.

Seriously, what can I say about 'Challengers?' I was largely Guadagnino agnostic while everyone else seemed a bit more enthralled with 'Call Me By Your Name' and 'Bones and All'. That said, he's the kind of director I want to support with my $$ because he's making interesting choices and seems to be continually directing new projects and doesn't seem to have interest in making something with much CGI. 'Challengers' is my idea of a blockbuster and will only grow in my estimation over time, not decrease. Incredibly dense and rewarding script and the aesthetic choices made in the film give me a lot more reason to return to 'Call Me By Your Name' as an adult.

2. The Sweet East (Streaming on Hulu)

Released by Utopia, this film played a few New York theaters somewhere in the region of Christmas to New Years of 2023, which makes this a 2024 movie by my estimation (living in New York City is exclusive in a way that it's a little like being at a film festival all of the time).

This is a 'picaresque', or a 'road film,' starring Talia Ryder and featuring Simon Rex, Ayo Edebiri, and Jacob Elordi. I seriously think this is the coolest movie with the coolest cast ever. Technically not the 'best' of the year yet, but it's something I'd recommend anyone to watch regardless of life experience. It's a stunning portrait of sexuality, coming of age, and Ryder is pure fun, her own little agent of chaos amidst a kooky cast. You're not a real film bro until you watch this movie. Fr. Look at that cast list again.

1. Lisa Frankenstein (Streaming on Peacock)

The best movie of the year.

This is basically a John Waters movie directed by Robin Williams' daughter. Script by Diablo Cody of 'Jennifer's Body' and 'Juno.'

By the way, all of my top three are there because a) the story hinges on an incredible leading woman b) all three cast a SUPERB leading actress.

This won't be the last time I talk about many of these films but you should already have seen them, so consider this a good forewarning.

Thanks for tuning in. Here's a picture of my knee.

[imsovoguesblog]

●When will the Met Gala 2024 take place?

The 2024 Met Gala will take place on Monday, May 6, in New York City at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. It will celebrate the Costume Institute’s new exhibition, “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.”

●What is the Met Gala 2024 theme?

The 2024 Met Gala will celebrate the Costume Institute’s new exhibition, “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion,” and the official dress code is “The Garden of Time.” The exhibit will feature approximately 250 rare items drawn from the Costume Institute’s permanent collection. Spanning over 400 years of fashion history, the pieces will include designs by Schiaparelli, Dior, Givenchy, and more. Some garments that are too fragile to ever be worn again—such as a Charles Frederick Worth ball gown from 1877—will also be displayed via video animation, light projection, AI, CGI, and other forms of sensory stimulation.

● Who is hosting the Met Gala 2024?

The 2024 Met Gala hosts are Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Bad Bunny, and Chris Hemsworth. They follow last year’s star studded group: Penélope Cruz, Michaela Coel, Roger Federer, Dua Lipa, and Vogue’s Anna Wintour. The latter has run the Met Gala since 1995, shaping it into the much-loved annual celebration of fashion we know today.

~ V.O.G.U.E

[intuitive-revelations]

Oooh! 👀

I know some classic fans are going to consider this sacrilege, and I totally get it, but personally I'm very keen to see how this turns out! As you may know if you've followed me for some time, I've said (and shown before with my DW Regenerated series of posts) that this is exactly the kind of project I'd love to see.

I'm surprised they're going to the detail of re-editing and re-composing the story too, but again it is something I always wanted to see as an experiment. Editing in particular makes sense, as it can make a huge difference, plus reduces the workload if you are going to go to the effort of recolouring something. Recomposing I'm a bit more wary about, but I think could work if they base it on the original score, and try more to just expand on and enhance it, trying to keep the original sounds and themes.

Bit of a shame it doesn't sound like it will be expanded to widescreen, or at least they haven't said as much. I bet it could be done. Obviously the dynamic shots are difficult (hence why most I've done are stationary), but I bet it could be done with sufficient photogrammetry, CGI, and careful manual editing (I tried the first, can't really do the second, at least in 3D, but have done a lot of the third). Potentially AI too, provided it were used ethically, and in combination with the other methods - maybe for the simple camera wobbles, so effort could focus on the more tricky stuff that could otherwise never be done.

Regardless, time to see if I'm vindicated...